This week’s harvest: Beans, Cucumbers, Squash, Kale, Chard, Peppers, Pears, Onions, Eggplant, Arugula/Mizuna mix, Beets, Parsley, Tomatoes, Basil, Cabbage or Cauliflower (switch from last week)

U-pick: Collards, Broccoli, Flowers, Herbs, Kale, Chard, extra squash for pickling!

We can’t believe it feels like fall on the farm. The chilly mornings and the empty (fully harvested) beds signal the upcoming frost. But that doesn’t mean your share size will be shrinking. It was this time last year when the devastating hail storm rolled down the valley and officially put an end to the season. We had flashbacks this afternoon while the thunder rolled and the lightning struck. Barring another “event” we’re excited to bring you our fall crops over the last few weeks including apples, winter squash and pumpkins.

This week we’re offering u-pick broccoli along with the usual kale, herbs, and flowers. We’re really proud of the broccoli we were able to grow for you this year and while all of the big heads have been harvested, there are plenty of side shoots up for grabs this week. It’s also really fun to harvest among the flowered broccoli and listen to the hum of bees. The shoots easily break off with a snap of the wrist.

We’ve been busy at home drying pears. I’ve never liked dried fruit until a friend dried pears from these same trees for us last season. Now I’m on a mission to preserve as many as possible because they taste like candy. All you hikers and bikers out there get rid of your energy bars and goo and switch to dried pears. They are considered one of the healthiest foods packed with fiber, antioxidants, vitamin C and K and among the easiest foods to digest (so especially good for the wee ones). More info about health benefits of pears: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=28
We’ll bring you our dried pears to sample tomorrow and since we’ll be going back to the orchard for apples, we’ll be happy to pick you a box of pears to dry for yourselves at $1 lb if you let us know.

Year by year, we’ll figure out how to grow and preserve more food together. As always, thanks for being a CSA member.

Linley, Peter, Reid